Distance 7km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1894.7km] Week 46
Saturday, 12-Nov. 7km.
After a week of restraining myself from any running I went out today to see how my ankle would respond. I had plenty of sand to run on as we were at low tide.
The weather was clear and warm, I set off at a nice pace but soon found my heart rate monitor telling me I was at the high end of my training zone, I slowed down but still found it beeping at me. It seems my aerobic fitness has dropped in the few weeks of no running, normally my heart rate would be much slower at this pace.
I ran the full 7km without any increase in ankle pain, the inflammation has reduced but not gone completely.
I had hoped my ultrasound unit would have arrived this week but I believe it is probably languishing in the Australian customs. It moved swiftly from the States to Australia then ground to a halt. Hopefully next week I shall see it.
Neil
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Barefoot Walking
Distance 15km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1887.7km] Week 45
Saturday, 5-Nov. 7km Walk
Another week of warm spring weather goes past and it another day I spend on the sidelines. I drove to the beach early as it was going to be a hot day.
The sand was soft and dry. I tried running but the pain returned around the ankle, frustratedly I walked off the beach. I wasn't going to drive home again without doing some exercise so I walked along the foreshore path doing a 7km out and back. It would get my feet back into shape if nothing else.
At first I could feel my frustration as runners would whiz past me as I walked, I so much wanted to be running but I was locked into a quick walking pace. I get no pain while walking only when there is the added forces associated with running. As the walk progressed my mood lifted and I even ran about 300m on the soft sand on the way back. The injury is healing but it is a slow progress. I am expecting delivery of a small ultrasound unit next week so I should be able to treat the area and see if I can get some strength and flexibility back.
Sunday, 6-Nov. 8km Walk
In contrast to yesterday the weather has cooled off. Good walking weather. This time I drove the short distance to the river around 4km from where it enters the sea. This was another barefoot walk and once again the feet were great on what was quite rough bitumen. I had been prepared to cut the walk short if I found my feet getting too sensitive after yesterdays walk but I didn't have to. It began to drizzle as I approached the beach, it didn't turn to full on rain which was good as I would have not been able to make a quick retreat.
I don't get any ankle pain from walking, it seems to come just when I run, when the ankle is at a different angle and loaded. It still looks swollen compared with the none injured ankle.
Neil
Saturday, 5-Nov. 7km Walk
Another week of warm spring weather goes past and it another day I spend on the sidelines. I drove to the beach early as it was going to be a hot day.
The sand was soft and dry. I tried running but the pain returned around the ankle, frustratedly I walked off the beach. I wasn't going to drive home again without doing some exercise so I walked along the foreshore path doing a 7km out and back. It would get my feet back into shape if nothing else.
At first I could feel my frustration as runners would whiz past me as I walked, I so much wanted to be running but I was locked into a quick walking pace. I get no pain while walking only when there is the added forces associated with running. As the walk progressed my mood lifted and I even ran about 300m on the soft sand on the way back. The injury is healing but it is a slow progress. I am expecting delivery of a small ultrasound unit next week so I should be able to treat the area and see if I can get some strength and flexibility back.
Sunday, 6-Nov. 8km Walk
In contrast to yesterday the weather has cooled off. Good walking weather. This time I drove the short distance to the river around 4km from where it enters the sea. This was another barefoot walk and once again the feet were great on what was quite rough bitumen. I had been prepared to cut the walk short if I found my feet getting too sensitive after yesterdays walk but I didn't have to. It began to drizzle as I approached the beach, it didn't turn to full on rain which was good as I would have not been able to make a quick retreat.
I don't get any ankle pain from walking, it seems to come just when I run, when the ankle is at a different angle and loaded. It still looks swollen compared with the none injured ankle.
Neil
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Rest and Rehab
Distance 0km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1882.7km] Week 44
Well, here it is, the zero week, a week free of any running and boy it is soooo frustrating. After enduring the colder winter weather with numb feet, then a cool wet holiday in England I was looking forward to the spring days here in Adelaide. All I have been able to do is watch the nice weather come in without getting any long runs in, I feel like I'm being left behind. Will I still manage to run in the Christmas half marathon? I don't know.
The ankle is feeling better but not clear, there is still pain but much diminished from a couple of weeks ago. I know this time not to run on it as last time I brought the pain back again.
I have sent off for a small portable ultrasound unit as a treatment tool to speed up the recovery and rehabilitate the tendon. Better to learn the art of healing yourself than paying money out to physio's to do it for you.
I'll schedule a run in for next Saturday, a short 4km and if I feel any pain, stop straight away rather than push on. Only a matter of time to get over the injury.
Neil
Well, here it is, the zero week, a week free of any running and boy it is soooo frustrating. After enduring the colder winter weather with numb feet, then a cool wet holiday in England I was looking forward to the spring days here in Adelaide. All I have been able to do is watch the nice weather come in without getting any long runs in, I feel like I'm being left behind. Will I still manage to run in the Christmas half marathon? I don't know.
The ankle is feeling better but not clear, there is still pain but much diminished from a couple of weeks ago. I know this time not to run on it as last time I brought the pain back again.
I have sent off for a small portable ultrasound unit as a treatment tool to speed up the recovery and rehabilitate the tendon. Better to learn the art of healing yourself than paying money out to physio's to do it for you.
I'll schedule a run in for next Saturday, a short 4km and if I feel any pain, stop straight away rather than push on. Only a matter of time to get over the injury.
Neil
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis?
Distance 12.5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1882.7km] Week 43
Monday, 17-Oct, 5km.
Yet another test run along the beach for a short distance. The pain is still there, not to the extent it was at when I first noticed it around 3 weeks ago but it is enough to stop me going out and putting some long distance in. This run was an entirely beach run as I have been doing for the last few weeks as a softer alternative to the road. It may be a mistaken belief on my part that running on soft sand is easier on the ankle than running on the hard road. The hard road may not be as forgiving but it is a stable, predictable surface. I still managed a 10minute 2km run, even with an injury.
Saturday, 22-Oct, 7.5km
How my weekly distance has evaporated once a chronic injury pops up. Is this shaking my belief in barefoot running you may ask. No, it's not. It never was going to be a total end to all injuries as there are many reasons you can get injured.
After poking around on the internet to locate the exact point of my ankle problem I have revised my diagnosis. I don't believe it is an ankle sprain like I first thought, usually that requires a trauma to start it off which I couldn't recall having. I now believe I have Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis. An inflammation of the tendon that wraps around the lower part of the ankle and controls the foot arch. The other end goes up into the calf area.
I now believe I started this off when I came back from my overseas holiday. I got back into my gym work and did lots of leg work, including hamstring deadlifts and calf raises. During this first week my calves were so stiff I could hardly walk, but, I managed to push myself out for a few long runs in the belief that this would ease the stiffness. All I have done is unbalance my running style and aggravate a tendon problem. I then compounded it by doing more leg work at the gym and repeating the exercise, thinking I was helping the problem when in reality I was making it worse.
So here I am 3 weeks later, not cured.
I ran 7.5km today in perfect conditions, the ankle pain was still there so I took it nice and easy. It is not swollen to the extent it was 2 weeks ago but it is still enlarged.
I have sent of for some KT Tape to strap across the foot to act as support. Another rule I shall add to my book is not to run when I have done a leg workout that has given me sore muscles, in fact it may be easier just to say why do I need to do leg exercises anyway, running is all I need.
Neil
Monday, 17-Oct, 5km.
Yet another test run along the beach for a short distance. The pain is still there, not to the extent it was at when I first noticed it around 3 weeks ago but it is enough to stop me going out and putting some long distance in. This run was an entirely beach run as I have been doing for the last few weeks as a softer alternative to the road. It may be a mistaken belief on my part that running on soft sand is easier on the ankle than running on the hard road. The hard road may not be as forgiving but it is a stable, predictable surface. I still managed a 10minute 2km run, even with an injury.
Saturday, 22-Oct, 7.5km
How my weekly distance has evaporated once a chronic injury pops up. Is this shaking my belief in barefoot running you may ask. No, it's not. It never was going to be a total end to all injuries as there are many reasons you can get injured.
After poking around on the internet to locate the exact point of my ankle problem I have revised my diagnosis. I don't believe it is an ankle sprain like I first thought, usually that requires a trauma to start it off which I couldn't recall having. I now believe I have Posterior Tibialis Tendonitis. An inflammation of the tendon that wraps around the lower part of the ankle and controls the foot arch. The other end goes up into the calf area.
I now believe I started this off when I came back from my overseas holiday. I got back into my gym work and did lots of leg work, including hamstring deadlifts and calf raises. During this first week my calves were so stiff I could hardly walk, but, I managed to push myself out for a few long runs in the belief that this would ease the stiffness. All I have done is unbalance my running style and aggravate a tendon problem. I then compounded it by doing more leg work at the gym and repeating the exercise, thinking I was helping the problem when in reality I was making it worse.
So here I am 3 weeks later, not cured.
I ran 7.5km today in perfect conditions, the ankle pain was still there so I took it nice and easy. It is not swollen to the extent it was 2 weeks ago but it is still enlarged.
I have sent of for some KT Tape to strap across the foot to act as support. Another rule I shall add to my book is not to run when I have done a leg workout that has given me sore muscles, in fact it may be easier just to say why do I need to do leg exercises anyway, running is all I need.
Neil
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Slowly coming back
Distance 11km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1870.2km] Week 42
Thursday, 13-Oct. 4km.
A warm spring day of 26C and I'm itching to get out for a run at this best time of year but I am still recovering from an ankle sprain.
Since Saturday I have been taking anti inflammatory tablets to reduce the swelling around the ankle. I did run a short 4km on the Saturday, since then I have been resting and the pain has been subsiding. A slight swelling has remained.
I went to the beach and ran another 4km. I can still feel the pain signals from the ankle so I didn't run any further than the planned distance. I'll rest again until Saturday and assess it again.
Saturday, 15-Oct. 7km
The warm wet weather of yesterday has given way to a cooler change, clear but a strong north west wind. Another test of my ankle today. The stiffness is still there but I can run on it. I extended my shorter 4km run out to 7km today. My fitness has dropped off I can tell, by the feeling of breathlessness. I had the wind behind me on the way out and towards me on the way back. Still it was an enjoyable run. The swelling has subsided, only a small amount left now. I'll go for another run or two during the week.
Neil
Thursday, 13-Oct. 4km.
A warm spring day of 26C and I'm itching to get out for a run at this best time of year but I am still recovering from an ankle sprain.
Since Saturday I have been taking anti inflammatory tablets to reduce the swelling around the ankle. I did run a short 4km on the Saturday, since then I have been resting and the pain has been subsiding. A slight swelling has remained.
I went to the beach and ran another 4km. I can still feel the pain signals from the ankle so I didn't run any further than the planned distance. I'll rest again until Saturday and assess it again.
Saturday, 15-Oct. 7km
The warm wet weather of yesterday has given way to a cooler change, clear but a strong north west wind. Another test of my ankle today. The stiffness is still there but I can run on it. I extended my shorter 4km run out to 7km today. My fitness has dropped off I can tell, by the feeling of breathlessness. I had the wind behind me on the way out and towards me on the way back. Still it was an enjoyable run. The swelling has subsided, only a small amount left now. I'll go for another run or two during the week.
Neil
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Almost a Zero
Distance 5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1859.2km] Week 41
Saturday, 8-Oct. 5km
No running during the week as I give my ankle a rest to see if the swelling will reduce. I did a bit of reading up on treatment and immediately see that I have not done the right thing.
My first error was not recognising I had a sprained ankle and continuing to run on it and hoping it would go away. If I had recognised it then the fastest cure involves anti inflammatory tablets, rest, ice and compression. It was only on the Saturday I realised this and rushed down to the chemist at the last minute to buy some tablets.
I went out on a short beach run on Saturday to see how the ankle was feeling. There was still soreness but I could run on it. I kept my distance short and the run relaxed so as not to cause more problems.
So I managed to put in a few kilometres and didn't have a zero week.
Neil
Saturday, 8-Oct. 5km
No running during the week as I give my ankle a rest to see if the swelling will reduce. I did a bit of reading up on treatment and immediately see that I have not done the right thing.
My first error was not recognising I had a sprained ankle and continuing to run on it and hoping it would go away. If I had recognised it then the fastest cure involves anti inflammatory tablets, rest, ice and compression. It was only on the Saturday I realised this and rushed down to the chemist at the last minute to buy some tablets.
I went out on a short beach run on Saturday to see how the ankle was feeling. There was still soreness but I could run on it. I kept my distance short and the run relaxed so as not to cause more problems.
So I managed to put in a few kilometres and didn't have a zero week.
Neil
Ankle injury
Distance 14.5km [total: minimalist 256.3km: Barefoot 1854.2km] Week 40
Sunday, 2-Oct. 14.5km
The weather had been pretty awful for must of the week and yesterday which is usually my long run day it was very windy and cold, along with that I still have some ankle problem and I had to be out of the house early for a get together to watch the football finals. So I delayed my run until today.
The weather today was perfect in comparison. Clear blue sky nice flat beach, perfect running weather.
I wanted to test my ankle out after resting it for a few days, but I was disappointed when the pain returned shortly after setting off. It eased off as I continued to run but it was still in the background.
On the way back I got into a bit of a race with a younger guy who was running with his dog. I had just started out on my return run along the foreshore when I heard this guy running behind me, he overtook which I don't mind, but then moved right in front of me, this irritated me. So I relaxed and increased my pace and overtook on the other side I stayed well in front for a kilometre. I made one mistake, I couldn't hear any footsteps so I glanced over my shoulder, he was about 10m behind. Looking back was a signal for him to catch me up and I hit some gravel patches which slowed me so he then got the edge. It didn't last long as about another 100m he stopped to give his gasping dog a drink. I carried on past and continued my run.
Despite carrying the ankle injury, I still did one of my best times for the course of 1:26:06.
My ankle swelled up later on even though I had a dip in the cold sea water after the run. I may have to have a longer enforced rest until it clears up. I have applied ice wraps and a compression bandage.
Neil
Sunday, 2-Oct. 14.5km
The weather had been pretty awful for must of the week and yesterday which is usually my long run day it was very windy and cold, along with that I still have some ankle problem and I had to be out of the house early for a get together to watch the football finals. So I delayed my run until today.
The weather today was perfect in comparison. Clear blue sky nice flat beach, perfect running weather.
I wanted to test my ankle out after resting it for a few days, but I was disappointed when the pain returned shortly after setting off. It eased off as I continued to run but it was still in the background.
On the way back I got into a bit of a race with a younger guy who was running with his dog. I had just started out on my return run along the foreshore when I heard this guy running behind me, he overtook which I don't mind, but then moved right in front of me, this irritated me. So I relaxed and increased my pace and overtook on the other side I stayed well in front for a kilometre. I made one mistake, I couldn't hear any footsteps so I glanced over my shoulder, he was about 10m behind. Looking back was a signal for him to catch me up and I hit some gravel patches which slowed me so he then got the edge. It didn't last long as about another 100m he stopped to give his gasping dog a drink. I carried on past and continued my run.
Despite carrying the ankle injury, I still did one of my best times for the course of 1:26:06.
My ankle swelled up later on even though I had a dip in the cold sea water after the run. I may have to have a longer enforced rest until it clears up. I have applied ice wraps and a compression bandage.
Neil
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